TECH BYTE: Avoid Unwanted Purchases on Your Smartphone

KINGSVILLE, Texas (WDEF) — A lot of technology is so easy to use nowadays, even a toddler can do it!

That was the case recently in Kingsville, Texas, when a two-year-old made a pretty big food order using his mom’s smartphone.

“I thought I locked the phone, but apparently I didn’t because DoorDash came with 31 cheeseburgers,” said Kelsey Golden.

Golden thought her two-year-old son Barrett was just taking pictures of himself with her phone like he sometimes does.

Instead, he was buying those 31 cheeseburgers from McDonald’s.

“So when they asked me, ‘Hey your order is going to be a little bit longer because it’s quite a big order, or it’s gonna take him a little bit longer to do,’ I said ‘OK,’ and then I heard a door knock. I came out, and it turns out they were at our house, and she was like, ‘You order 31 burgers?’ It’s like, ‘Oh wow, no, I didn’t order these, but I did, my son did.'”

The order cost $91.70 – $61.58 for the burgers, plus a $16 tip.

“I was kind of in shock whenever I realized no, it did come from my phone, so I thought, maybe it was a mistake,” Golden said.

Mom of two Jenny Schulte knows that feeling all too well.

A couple of years ago, her then three-year-old and five-year-old bought Disney movies through Amazon Prime.

“We didn’t have a passcode to purchase things because we’d never had that problem before,” Schulte said. “They know how to use the remotes, and how to order things apparently just by doing the ‘OK,’ ‘OK.'”

And since she knows from experience, Schulte says parents with small kids should keep a closer eye on their device activity.

Make sure to lock certain apps on your phone, and require passwords for e-mail and pictures to prevent any unwanted access.

Because most parents don’t want to spend an extra $100 on fast food that they didn’t budget for.

“It would suck. I’m sorry. It would not be great,” Schulte said. “But that’s kind of what happens with kids – just fun and interesting things. You’ve just got to move on with it, and learn from it.”

And that’s what the Goldens are doing now – laughing about Barrett’s big burger buy, and sharing their story.

And by the way, after all of that, like a typical two-year-old, Barrett only ended up eating half of a burger.

Golden says she gave away some of the others to neighbors.

She could always put the rest in the freezer!